UP ATS seeks details of madrasa staff, students from eight districts after Red Fort blast

Lucknow, Nov 19 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad, in the aftermath of the recent Red Fort blast in Delhi, has stepped up its monitoring efforts and sought comprehensive details of madrasas, their students, and teaching staff across the eight districts under Prayagraj zone, officials said on Wednesday.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has written to minority welfare officers in Prayagraj, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Fatehpur, Banda, Hamirpur, Chitrakoot and Mahoba, asking for complete lists of students and clerics associated with madrasas in their areas.

According to officials, the letter dated November 15 seeks names of students, their fathers' names, addresses and mobile numbers. Senior ATS officials in Lucknow told PTI that the exercise aims to "prevent any possibility of madrasas being misused by anti-social elements".

Asked whether similar directives were issued statewide, officials clarified that the information has been sought only from the eight specified districts for now.

Prayagraj District Minority Welfare Officer Krishna Murari told reporters on Wednesday that the district's report has already been submitted to the ATS. As per the data, Prayagraj has 206 operational madrasas — 43 aided and 169 unaided.

Officials added that the ATS has initiated a ground-level verification based on the reports received.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Panchayati Raj and Minority Welfare Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar also told mediapersons that the government has instructed administrations of eight districts to expedite submission of their madrasa staff lists.

He said the department would extend full cooperation to the ATS and ensure scrutiny of individuals whose activities appear suspicious. PTI CDN PRK PRK